Press Release
Atlanta, GA and Gainesville, FL – On Thursday, January 28, 2021, the Sustainable Purchasing Leadership Council (SPLC) recognized Rekha Menon-Varma, Managing Partner, Vertaeon LLC, with the 2020 award for Individual Leadership, at the Council’s annual awards ceremony. The award celebrates her visionary leadership and dedicated efforts fundamental to the advancement of sustainable procurement and supply chain risk reduction.
Seven organizations including Hilton Supply Management, Tillamook County Creamery, and California DGS Procurement Division were also recognized in categories like overall sustainable purchasing program, demonstrating business value and engaging suppliers. Rekha was selected by a prestigious panel of experts who evaluated the breadth and impact of her contributions.
“We are proud to reward and recognize the winners of these awards for their outstanding Sustainable Purchasing Leadership efforts,” said Donna Westerman, CEO of the SPLC. “It was clear to our judges that their vision and strategy execution will help guide us toward a more sustainable world.”
In presenting the award to Rekha, Anastasia O’Rourke, Managing Director of Yale Carbon Containment Lab stated that “The winner of this category displays many of the qualities that I think resonate with SPLC communities. Rekha sees both the need, and the opportunity in sustainable purchasing, then acts on that, doing the hard work of implementing them. She focuses on the business case and enrolls others in the sustainability journey.”
Acknowledging the recognition and the critical role played by SPLC in highlighting and advancing sustainable purchasing, Rekha said that “It is an honor to receive this prestigious award. This is a testament to Vertaeon’s vision of assessing ESG indicators in a business context and leveraging data analytics to do that – be it for reducing enterprise risks, improving supply chain transparency or for overall business growth. This application aspect of ESG is where we find congruence with SPLC’s mission.”
Sustainable purchasing – where organizations use their purchasing power to advance the long-term health and vitality of society, economies, and the planet – is rapidly becoming mainstream as organizations recognize the environmental and social impacts of procurement and suppliers embrace sustainability as a critical part of doing business.
About Vertaeon:
Vertaeon leverages strategy, operational expertise and technology to enable data analytics for the assessment of supply chain and business risks and due diligence for strategic initiatives. Founded as an advisory firm, Vertaeon identified a critical market need and has successfully realigned as a data analytics SaaS provider in recent years. Vertaeon is a thought leader in this field and has launched comprehensive enterprise and supply chain risk analytics solutions to promote sustainable operations and mitigate business risks. For more details, please visit us at https://www.vertaeon.com.
About the Sustainable Purchasing Leadership Council:
Founded in 2013, the Sustainable Purchasing Leadership Council convenes buyers, suppliers, and public interest advocates to develop programs that simplify and standardize sustainable purchasing efforts by large organizations. The Council has quickly attracted, from a wide variety of sectors and regions, more than 180 members with over $200 billion in collective purchasing power. In 2015, SPLC released Guidance for Leadership in Sustainable Purchasing v1.0, which has been called the “most comprehensive literature to date” on sustainable purchasing (https://www.sustainablepurchasing.org)
Media Contact:
Brandon McKay Crooks
brandon.mckc@vertaeon.com